DRIVE AWAY PRICE$19,148

5.8

62kw

5

kia1 Photo: tmr

31 Jul 2018

What small urban runabout should I buy?

What small urban runabout should I buy?

The dilemma

Carly drives a 2013 Honda CR-V, her husband a 2011 Toyota Kluger. With two of their three children now all grown-up, however, they’re looking to ditch the Kluger for something small and cheap to fill the gaps. A new Kia Picanto is one option, or would a similarly priced used Mazda 2 be better?

The budget

$15,000

The shortlist

The Picanto isn’t a dream set of wheels but it does make a lot of sense if you want this kind of job done with minimum cost and hassle. By the same measure, Kia has inevitably had to fill the cup a little less in some ways to trot out a showroom-fresh deal for so little money.

Whether its natural shortcomings justify casting it aside for bigger, better but also older metal will come down to what you’re looking to get out of it. But putting it up against the 2, plus our suggestion, is a good way to gain clarity on the matter.

Kia Picanto, from $14,190

This Kia is a tiny thing with a far from sprawling back seat and, wth plenty of hard plastics inside, clearly built to price. It’s not as calming as a bigger car on the open road and its 1.2-litre petrol engine is a modest performer, something not helped by having just four ratios in auto form.

However, while plenty of cheap cars do without autonomous emergency braking, reversing camera and smartphone mirroring, it has them all, plus Kia’s seven-year warranty/fixed-price servicing deal.

It’s attractively presented, roomier than you’d expect, has a decent boot (255 litres) and its engine is sufficiently responsive for urban duties and thrifty (5.0-5.8L/100km). Kia’s local suspension tuning, too, means it drives with surprising flair and assurance for such a small car.

This Mazda looks more substantial than the Kia, feels much more upmarket inside and its 1.5-litre engines serve up gutsier performance without a fuel-economy penalty (4.9-5.4L/100km). Where the Kia is good to drive, it’s great. It can be had with auto emergency braking and a reversing camera, and taps you into a lifetime fixed-price servicing deal.

A $15k ceiling, however, will mean settling for a used or demo example and sacrificing some of Mazda’s three-year warranty. While all 2017-on update models have auto emergency braking, older 2s left it to the options chart. If you want a reversing camera, you’ll need a second-tier Maxx. If you want smartphone mirroring, tough – it’s not available.

It’s not massively roomier than a Picanto in the back and actually has the marginally smaller boot (250 litres).

This Suzuki also looks and feels a class above the Kia – if not quite as special as the Mazda inside, though it is a little roomier – and drives with more poise and polish. Its 1.2-litre petrol engine is no screamer but this group’s lightest weight and an effective CVT auto help it deliver willing performance and great economy (4.6-4.8L/100km).

Base GL models, however, miss out on a reversing camera, smartphone mirroring and auto emergency braking. While GL Navigators address the former two issues and GL Navigator Safety Packs the latter, you’ll be winding the build date back and odometer up compared to a GL to get them.

That will mean sacrificing more of Suzuki’s three-year warranty and five-year/100,000km fixed-price servicing deals. And with six-monthly intervals for the latter (versus yearly for the others), it’s already this group’s wooden-spooner for service cost and convenience. It also has this group’s smallest boot (240 litres).

A Swift with all the fruit might just win but finding it at this budget could be tricky. With its rivals making desirable technology more attainable, and not really dropping the ball enough to let it gain a decisive advantage, it’s the first to fall.

As a purely A-to-B-type purchase, the Kia takes some beating. It has the most kit, the best ownership tempters and – while not as ‘good' as its rivals here – serves up a much broader range of talents than you’d expect.

So there’s really no need to look beyond the Picanto. Unless you want the very best small car for your $15k, in which case the 2 takes the cake.

* Values are estimates provided by Redbook based on an example averaging up to 20,000km per annum and in a well-maintained condition relevant to its age.